4 minute read
INSIDE DESIGN
from rihcgirhf
genevieve gorder
Watching her on shows from TLC’s Trading Spaces to HGTV’s Dear Genevieve (among many more), we’ve loved Genevieve Gorder’s soulful, playful style. So we sat down to chat about what inspires her...and let her inspire us!
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PRODUCER SARA CATION
THE BIG START
When Genevieve was asked to audition for Trading Spaces (after making a name for herself on MTV), she didn’t react as positively as you’d think. “I was like, ‘No! Interior design is so lame.’ I had an idea of who that lady was, and she was not chic. I had watched Designing Women, and I wasn’t that girl. I wasn’t Dixie Carter with the big scarf and frou-frou hair, holding a mint julep. Interiors didn’t feel cool back then. And I didn’t want to get into something uncool,” explains Genevieve. “But once I saw how creative it could be and how much you could do with an approachable amount of money, I was very interested.”
GLAMOUR SHOT
HGTV STAR AND DESIGNER EXTRAORDINAIRE GENEVIEVE GORDER.
DESTINATION INSPIRATION
“Inspiration is everywhere. It can be in a song or in my bowl of soup,” says Genevieve. But to really fuel her creative tank, she travels – exten- sively. “If you stay in one place, that’s all you can create from. You have to fill your head with other lands – smell, taste and see them firsthand.” What’s inspiring her now? “I go where the cockroaches have just left. That’s the design circuit. The artists go before anything pretty happens. So Detroit’s been really hot. And Mexico City,” she says. But she also has her favourite spots: Scandinavia and northern Africa. “I love that pairing.” (Which is obvious in her Moroccan-inspired bathroom shown at right and the sitting area in the room below.)
DETROIT DESIGN
Instagram photos from a trip to Detroit this summer: 1 “Morning. Let colour reign,” Genevieve captioned this shot of a wall mural in Corktown; 2 “My floor. On ceiling. Dopeness,” she quipped about this restaurant.
MEXICAN MINUTE
Instagram shots from Genevieve’s trip to Mexico City this fall: 1 Genevieve hashtagged this one #MexicoCity #DesignCity; 2 Artwork she spotted on a city corner; 3 A hand-strung bench Genevieve saw in what she calls “The Brooklyn of Mexico City.”
IN WITH THE OLD
THE NIGHTSTANDS IN GENEVIEVE’S MASTER BEDROOM ARE MADE FROM ANTIQUE SEWING TABLES, ONE FROM EACH OF HER GREAT-GRANDMAS.
DINING IN STYLE
THE DINING AREA OFF GENEVIEVE’S KITCHEN IS KEPT CASUAL VIA MISMATCHED FURNITURE AND A LONG ZINC-TOPPED TABLE MADE BY A LOCAL BLACKSMITH.
THE SMART KITCHEN
“We’re entering the era of the smart home,” says Genevieve, “and Samsung is one of the leaders in innovative technology for appliances, like fridges with customizable temperatures for storing food. It’s not about getting bigger. It’s about using space more wisely.” Right now, she’s super into black stainless finishes – just check out the stunning stove in her kitchen, pictured below. “But appliance finishes don’t have to match,” she says. “I don’t match anything – I’m all about mixed metals. We don’t dress like that, so why would we style our house like that? It gets weird when your curtains match your garbage can.”
“I used to think interior design was so lame!”
CHEZ E GENEVIEVE
“Pomegranates, hydrangeas and s hydrangeasand Marimekko: dinner at my house,” is how the designer captioned this Instagram snapshot.
COMING UP
Genevieve has multiple product lines launching between this fall and next spring – only a few of which she could share with us. “I’ve finally reached a point where people take me seriously – I have longevity, and people trust me,” she says. “I’ve earned this moment. I’ve wanted to do these product lines for so long, but either the market or my age didn’t line up. And now it’s time – it’s time to do it all.” “Instagram is my true story.”
SNEAK PEEKS
Genevieve’s Instagram has been abuzz lately with snippets of upcoming collections we can’t wait to get our hands on: 1 Genevieve Gorder for Capel Rugs; 2 “Pompoms for everyone in every colour everywhere,” Genevieve wrote about her new sheet collection for Genevieve Gorder Home; 3 The Frida bed (inspired by Mexico) for Genevieve Gorder Home.
